The Resurgence of Florals & How They Can Fit Into Your Decor

The Resurgence of Florals & How They Can Fit Into Your Decor

Like fashion, music and art, the world of interior design is one defined largely by the ebb and flow of trends. Styles and aesthetics come and go, grouped, as they pass, into eras that are defined by their most outstanding pieces which live on as classics. For an interior designer, being on trend is all-important. And being ahead of the trends - especially for furniture or textile designers - is even more important, which is why we spend so much time anticipating what’s coming next. And while it...MORE can be easy for us to tire of all of the trendspotting and trend reporting, one of the best things about trends is that nothing you love is ever really gone forever. The things you loved and had to say goodbye to once the look of it had faded or the popularity of the fad had come to an end always have the possibility of finding new life and new purpose a few years down the line. You might even find that some of the bigger trends that you really didn’t love are reinvented in a new way or from a new perspective that totally changes the way you felt about them before.

The beauty of nature has always inspired the creativity of people. As one of nature’s most colorful elements, flowers have received special attention from artists and designers alike. In decor, florals were the standard in the 19xx’s and xx’s, appearing on everything from textiles and furniture upholstery to wallpaper (so much wallpaper!) and even ceramics. It wasn’t the first time that flower-inspired imagery had dominated a design era, but by the time it passed, more than a few of us had spent so much tie looking at our parents’ curtains and our grandparents’ wallpaper and dishwater that were determined that it would be the last. And yet, one of the biggest trends in 2016 has been the resurgence of floral patterns within the home - and they look great. In room after room people are finding new ways to bring the outdoors in with modern floral prints that are complementing the streamlined look of modern design with the soft, natural lines of flowers in bloom. And the variety of options for jumping into this newly-revived trend are nearly limitless. So whether you’re planning to cover an entire room with a dainty print, or looking to highlight a space in your home by painting large-scale blooms on a feature wall, there are more than a few ways to incorporate this fun and vibrant trend with a wonderfully modern look all throughout your home.

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Powder Room Florals

Here’s a designer tip: whenever you’re looking to try something new, but you’re not completely committed to the idea or totally sure how it will come out - try it in your power room first. Powder rooms are great for experimenting with bold patterns and bright colors. The idea of completely covering a larger room like a kitchen or master with floral wallpaper may be intimidating. Powder rooms, on the other hand, are generally quite small, a feature which brings with it a few advantages for...MORE decorators hoping to test out new ideas. First, if you’re trying out a bigger change, like paint or wallpaper, covering the walls in your bathroom won’t require as large of an investment as it would take to complete the same treatment on the walls of a larger room such as your living room or dining room. By extension, should you decide that the style that you’re experimenting with just isn’t for you, it won’t take as long to undo. And since we don’t spend as much time on the whole in our powder rooms as our dining rooms, bedrooms or living rooms, you won’t spend as much time living with a style you don’t like in the time it takes you to rectify the situation. So on the whole, decorating in a powder room just doesn’t seem as risky. But that isn’t the only reason why the bathroom is a good place to start with florals.

Often bathrooms are among the last places we think to decorate. As a result, they commonly take on a look that’s more sterile and functional as opposed to invigorating and inviting. Decorating this space with florals is an unexpected and lovely way to bring color to the space as well as a relaxing touch of nature. Both large and small scale florals work in small spaces like powder rooms which gives you more options for finding just the right patten. And, if you want to create a spa-like getaway in your powder room, decorating the walls in a tropically-inspired floral pattern is a great way to set the mood and create a feeling of escape. It can be a wonderful design element for you and your family as well as a welcome surprise for your guests.

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Laundry Room Florals

Just as designers are always on the lookout for new trends, they’re just as persistent in their search for new parts of the home to decorate. As a result, over the last couple of years, there has been a lot more emphasis placed on designing and styling laundry rooms. From a technical standpoint, displaying a bold floral in a laundry room is similar to that of a powder room - given the similarity in size and tone between the two rooms. Like powder rooms, laundry rooms are purely functional spaces...MORE that we typically don’t anticipate spending a lot of time in. But that is, in large part, what makes them such a great opportunity for design. Let’s face it, very few of us look forward to doing the laundry, and in large part the look of our laundry rooms reflects our lack of enthusiasm for the time that we spend there. But a laundry room decorated in lively images in an energizing color palette might just help pass the time there a little more easily. Because most washrooms don’t offer much opportunity for furniture and textiles, the walls are your best bet for adding a strong decorative note in these rooms. When bringing the floral look to your washroom, look for wallpaper that has a dark base color to make the flowers really pop. The moody sophistication of the dark colors and the energy of the bright floral patterns offer a simple method for bringing a high-end look to the space. In the end, florals might not help you to like doing the laundry any better, but you may find yourself wanting to spend more time in your laundry room.

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Kid's Space Florals

Children’s rooms and nurseries are some of the best places for display bold florals on the wall. It might seem a little bit obvious at first, but only because it’s true. Childhood is all about fun and color, and what better way to bring that spirit into a child’s life than with bright, beautiful florals in their room. Flowers have a magical aspect to them and a child’s room is the perfect place to explore the fantasy side of florals. When ringing this trend to your home, look for patterns that...MORE are more whimsical than literal, offering creative takes on the colors and shapes of flowers, trees and even the sky. If you’d like to go even more free form, why not grab a paint brush in some fun colors and create your own floral designs? It’s a fun decorating DIY project that you and your kids can be proud of. Whether you end up using wallpaper or paint for your kid’s room, there’s just something about florals that are playful, youthful and fun. There’s no question that your kid will have the coolest room on the block!

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Feature Wall Florals

Just because you’d love to live in a space with some floral flair doesn’t mean that you have to cover every wall in the room. A smaller statement can actually have a bigger impact by giving your eye something in the room from your feature wall to stand out from. In this dining room the floral wall is the perfect moment between the contrast of the white ceiling and dark floor. By incorporating both colors, the wall acts as a unifying element while creating a backdrop that the flowers just explode...MORE off of. So if covering your entire space with florals just isn't for you, you can always try incorporating flowers with one bold focal wall.

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Floral Art Work

We get it. Paint and wallpaper both take a lot of time, a not inconsiderable amount of money and in the end can just feel a lot more permanent than you want your relationship with florals to be. If you’re not quite ready to commit your walls to a permanent display of floral designs, try showing off your love of flowers with paintings or art work. One large floral image standing alone or as part of a diverse and eclectic gallery wall is a great way to bring this new and exciting trend into your...MORE home. Paintings of flowers are also wonderful in rooms that include actual flowers as part of the decor. The relationship between including nature in your space both conceptually and actually only serves to add another layer to your design scheme, allowing both the real and represented florals to act as patterns. They don’t need to be the same flowers or even the same color to make this work, but both should relate to the color palette of the room in some way.